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NavSource Online: "Old Navy" Ship Photo Archive

Fulton (I) (Demologos)

Centerwheel Steam Battery:

Laid down, date unknown, at New York City

Launched, 29 October 1814

Fulton (or Demologos), was intended as a heavily-armed and stoutly-built mobile fort for local defense

Completed after Robert Fulton's death in February 1815, the ship made successful trial runs in the summer of 1815

With the close of the War of 1812, it was decided not to fit her put for service

Delivered to the Navy in June 1816, and placed in ordinary at Brooklyn Navy Yard

Housed over, she was used as a receiving ship until, 4 June 1829, when her magazine exploded, killing 30 men, wounding many others, and totally destroying the ship

Sometimes called "Fulton the First", she was the first steam-powered vessel built for the United States Navy
Specifications:Displacement 2,475 t.
Length 156'
Beam 56'
Depth unknown
Draft 11'
Speed 6 kts
Complement 200

Armament

twenty four 32-pdr carronades

Propulsion

centerwheel

steam

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138k

Launching, at New York City, 29 October 1814 of Steam Battery Fulton.
Engraving published by B. Tanner, No. 71 South 3rd. St., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 27 March 1815. It is based on a drawing by J.J. Barralet after a sketch "taken on the spot" by Morgan. Courtesy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936.
US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 53969

Tommy Trampp

212k

Launch of the Steam Battery Fulton (or Demologos), first steam warship. Lithograph by Ostervald, Paris, France,
depicting the ship's launching, at New York City, 29 October 1814. Note the small steamer at right.US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 53968. Courtesy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, 1936.

Water color by Erik Heyl, 1953 of Steam Battery "Demologos" (or "Fulton"), painted for use in his book "Early American Steamers", Volume V.Courtesy of Erik Heyl.
US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 63899

US Naval History and Heritage Command

108k

Pen and ink drawing, with text, by Samuel War Stanton of the Steam Battery "Fulton" (or "Demologos"). Collections of the Navy Department, 1967.
US Naval History and Heritage Command photo # NH 65461

US Naval History and Heritage Command

106k

161k

Demologos" (or "Fulton") from the book
"Pictorial History of American Ships, On the High Seas & Inland Waters" (1953), John and Alice Durant.